The Best Albums of 2017

Best Albums of 2017

2017 has been full of highly anticipated releases and unexpected gems from relatively unknown artists. This week, Jim and Greg reveal their lists of the Best Albums of 2017.

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The Best Albums of 2017

It's Jim and Greg’s favorite show of the year, where they get to reflect on the Best Albums of 2017. They also hear picks from listeners as well as the Sound Opinions production staff.

Jim's Top Albums

  1. The Regrettes, Feel Your Feelings Fool!
  2. Downtown Boys, Cost of Living
  3. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN.
  4. Priests, Nothing Feels Natural
  5. Rips, Rips
  6. Aimee Mann, Mental Illness
  7. Vic Mensa, The Autobiography
  8. The Feelies, In Between
  9. Wire, Silver/Lead
  10. Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, Lotta Sea Lice

Greg's Top Albums

  1. Run the Jewels, Run the Jewels 3
  2. Ted Leo, The Hanged Man
  3. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN.
  4. Sir the Baptist, Saint or Sinner
  5. Downtown Boys, Cost of Living
  6. Protomartyr, Relatives in Descent
  7. Vic Mensa, The Autobiography
  8. Mavis Staples, If All I Was Was Black
  9. Moses Sumney, Aromanticism
  10. Priests, Nothing Feels Natural

Sound Opinions Producers’ Top Albums

  • Alex Claiborne: Lorde, Melodrama
  • Brendan Banaszak: The Menzingers, After the Party
  • Ayana Contreras: Bottle Tree, Bottle Tree
  • Evan Chung: Mount Eerie, A Crow Looked at Me

Listeners’ Top Albums

  • Shannon from Rochester, NY: Manchester Orchestra, A Black Mile to the Surface
  • Brad from Washington, DC: Tyler, the Creator, Flower Boy
  • Brad from Evansville, IN: The xx, I See You
  • Michael from LA: Kesha, Rainbow

Dear Listeners,

For more than 15 years, Sound Opinions was a production of WBEZ, Chicago's public radio station. Now that the show is independent, we're inviting you to join the band and lend a hand! We need your support more than ever because now we have to do all the behind-the-scenes work that WBEZ handled before (like buying insurance and paying for podcast hosting, ugh). Plus, we have some exciting ideas we'd like to try now that there's no one to tell us no!